In a wireless local area network (WLAN), transmit power in the various devices in the network may be reduced to less than the maximum level to conserve battery power in the devices. However, changing transmit power levels may affect other aspects of the communications process. Reducing transmit power below a certain level may cause the signal at the receiver to be too weak to received correctly. Conversely, increasing power too much may cause interference problems between devices and/or adjoining systems. Either problem can reduce the effectiveness of the overall communications process by resulting in reduced data rates and/or increased retransmissions.
Conventional approaches to transmit power control may be too simplistic for a highly variable network environment when station mobility or other variable conditions can cause constant changes in the overall network environment.